Design and Control of a Simplified NIBS PFC Converter Using Grasshopper-Optimized PI Controller for Battery Charging in Defence Applications

This research focuses on the design and analysis of transformerless single-stage power architecture for charging Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) batteries, offering an alternative to conventional low or high-frequency transformer-based methods. Diode bridge rectifier (DBR) losses are the primary cause of lower efficiency in traditional Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuits used for battery charging. In this article, a single-phase AC to DC Non-Ideal Bridgeless SEPIC Converter (NIBS) has been designed and controlled for PFC and output regulation for battery charging in defence applications. Establishing a reliable and scalable EV charging infrastructure is pivotal to harnessing the full potential of LEVs in defence, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing energy security. A Hankel Matrix Method is employed to simplify the seventh-order model of the NIBS converter to third-order model. The efficacy of the NIBS converter-based charger is illustrated with the help of simulation-based performance under rated and over wide fluctuations in AC mains voltage, load and set point. It provides an efficiency of 91.99 %, input power factor of 0.9996, and THD of 2.34 % for rated load.